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Old 12-30-2007, 08:14 AM
 
550 posts, read 1,234,754 times
Reputation: 125

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Hello. I'm new here and currently living in an igloo in Ontario Canaduh.

I'm hoping to move to Greater LA and would love your honest opinions.

If you can, please answer as many questions as possible. Feel free to ballpark/estimate your costs answers if need be. Thanks in advance!

01] Which is a nicer place to live and why. Irvine or Santa Clarita.

02] How much would a 2000 sq. ft. 3 bedroom home cost in these cities?

03] Would the home be newly built or over 15-20 years old?

04] How much would the property taxes be?

05] Have home prices fallen in the past few months due to the subprime loan correction?

I'm surprised to read about all of the crime down there.

06] Is it safe to walk the streets during the day and evening?

07] Is it safe to pull up and stop at a traffic light with the top down or windows open at night?

08] How much is a gallon of regular gas?

09] How much is a pack of 25 cigarettes?

10] How much is a gallon of milk?

11] Is the tap water drinkable?

12] What salary limit would I need to survive if I had a 200,000 mortgage?

13] How much is cable TV per month?

14] How much is high speed Internet per month?

15] How much is cable Internet per month?

16] How much is a basic landline phone per month?

17] How much is a cell phone service per month?

18] When there were wild fires in Santa Clarita was the entire city ablaze or only the edge area's near the forest/trees?

19] How much are tickets to the LA Kings / Dodgers / Ducks / Lakers games?

20] How much is a rock concert ticket at the Staples Centre?

21] Can you leave your car unlocked in your driveway at night?

22] Can you leave your house windows open at night while you sleep?

23] Can you leave you house doors unlocked while you're at home?

24] Is there an area in Greater LA that you simply cannot walk down the street in the evening without being mugged / assaulted. Say, at 10 PM for example?

25] Since it appears to be rather pricy living there, how do so many illegals or low income persons manage to actually live there?


I'm sure I'll have more questions going forward, but hopefully some of you can answer some of these for now.


Kind regards,

You lucky people!

It's minus 8 Celsius and snowing here right now!
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Old 12-30-2007, 10:42 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,329 posts, read 93,761,592 times
Reputation: 17831
My responses in 2007 Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Mighty Ducks orange

Quote:
Originally Posted by kidcanaduh View Post
Hello. I'm new here and currently living in an igloo in Ontario Canaduh.

I'm hoping to move to Greater LA and would love your honest opinions.

If you can, please answer as many questions as possible. Feel free to ballpark/estimate your costs answers if need be. Thanks in advance!

01] Which is a nicer place to live and why. Irvine or Santa Clarita.

Depends. Both have their advantages. Irvine is closer to lots of jobs and the beach. SC is hotter. SC may be less expensive. Work realtor.com.

02] How much would a 2000 sq. ft. 3 bedroom home cost in these cities?

Work realtor.com. You should have done this already prior to posting.

03] Would the home be newly built or over 15-20 years old?

What home are you referring to?

04] How much would the property taxes be?

Approximately 1.25% of the assessed value.

05] Have home prices fallen in the past few months due to the subprime loan correction?

Yes they have fallen. It is speculation as to why but the subprime thing probably has something to do with it.


06] Is it safe to walk the streets during the day and evening?

What does safe mean?

07] Is it safe to pull up and stop at a traffic light with the top down or windows open at night?

What does safe mean?

08] How much is a gallon of regular gas?

Go to gasbuddy.com

09] How much is a pack of 25 cigarettes?

Should the response
include the additional health insurance and life insurance premiums?

10] How much is a gallon of milk?

About $3.50

11] Is the tap water drinkable?

Yes.

12] What salary limit would I need to survive if I had a 200,000 mortgage?


There are calculators on the internet for this. You should have computed this prior to posting.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/new...calculator.asp


13] How much is cable TV per month?

Depends on options and packages.

14] How much is high speed Internet per month?

Probably starts around $40

15] How much is cable Internet per month?

Probably starts around $40

16] How much is a basic landline phone per month?

Probably starts around $20

17] How much is a cell phone service per month?

Probably starts around $30

18] When there were wild fires in Santa Clarita was the entire city ablaze or only the edge area's near the forest/trees?

What prompted this question?

19] How much are tickets to the LA Kings / Dodgers / Ducks / Lakers games?

Too expensive. Did you try their websites?

20] How much is a rock concert ticket at the Staples Centre?

It depends. Did you try the website?

21] Can you leave your car unlocked in your driveway at night?

Yes.

22] Can you leave your house windows open at night while you sleep?

Yes.

23] Can you leave you house doors unlocked while you're at home?

Yes.

24] Is there an area in Greater LA that you simply cannot walk down the street in the evening without being mugged / assaulted. Say, at 10 PM for example?

No. It is possible to get mugged anywhere, anytime.

25] Since it appears to be rather pricy living there, how do so many illegals or low income persons manage to actually live there?

They rent. They pool their funds. They bought when it was less expensive. They live with lots of people in one home.
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Old 12-30-2007, 12:13 PM
 
550 posts, read 1,234,754 times
Reputation: 125
Hello Charles. Thanks for the reply and links. I didn't search 25 websites for 25 various answers because I found this site first and thought it might be quicker. It was. I did search some sites for various info regarding questions I didn't ask, though, but I wanted a boots on the ground opinion from some foot soldiers who live there.

I see you're in Colorado. Why are you a Ducks fan?

I can't say I blame you, though. The Duck coach, Randy Carlyle and Todd Bertuzzi are both from my hometown. You can also catch Lord Stanley Cup in the Rose parade in two days.

The Cup comes here almost every year because we produce soooo many great NHLers. LA has been very very good to us. In 1984, Alex Baumann won 2 Olympic gold medalist winning the 200 and 400 individual medley events in world record times. Now the Ducks are winning. Yesteryear it was the Kings. Both Jimmy Fox and Dave Taylor are from my hood. My hood is home to the most Stanley Cup winning coaches. We have 14. More than any other city on mother earth. The Ducks have a good shot at winning again this year, which will extend our coach winning lead. So keep cheering for them! I hated the Mighty Ducks name when they entered the league. It then grew on me and it is actually the best name in the league. But now, for some silly reason, they dropped the Mighty and are now just Ducks. What "Quack" come up with this idea, and why?

In your answers to my questions you asked me some questions. Here's my answers to them.

03] What home are you referring to?

I was referring to a 2000 sq. ft. 3 bedroom home in Irvine or SC.

06 & 07] What does safe mean?

Safe, as in not being mugged or assaulted or shot at in a drive by. From reading city sites there appears to be an extra high crime rate down there, or at least that was my impression. So do people get mugged or assaulted or shot at while they're minding there own business walking down a street in the daytime or evening?

How often does it occur?

Are street gangs really bad there, and if so, are they bad everywhere in Greater LA?


18] What prompted this question?

I saw the recent fires. I saw the fires in previous years. They look bad. I searched SC on the web and the fires appear to have hit that city pretty hard. If you know, did the fires spread to within the city limit or was it just the houses on the edges of the city limit that were burnt?

If you know, how much has a house price fallen in the past few months?

Can you buy an attractive finished 2000 sq. ft. home for under 300,000?

How much would home insurance be down there on a 300,000 dollar home?

Are home owners required to get earthquake insurance?

Are mortgage interest payment still a income tax deduction in the US?

Thanks for your time.

Last edited by kidcanaduh; 12-30-2007 at 12:23 PM..
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Old 12-30-2007, 12:15 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,451,929 times
Reputation: 7586
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidcanaduh View Post
Can you buy an attractive finished 2000 sq. ft. home for under 300,000?
Of course. But it won't be anywhere near Santa Clarita or Irvine. Most likely not in the same state.
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Old 12-30-2007, 12:29 PM
 
550 posts, read 1,234,754 times
Reputation: 125
Quote:
Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia View Post
Of course. But it won't be anywhere near Santa Clarita or Irvine. Most likely not in the same state.
Ha!

Please ballpark a price for me in Irvine or SC for a nicely finished 2000 sq. ft. brick home?

Would the price you provide include afridge, stove, washer, dryer dishwasher, and air conditioning?

Do homes have basements there?
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Old 12-30-2007, 12:33 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,451,929 times
Reputation: 7586
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidcanaduh View Post
01] Which is a nicer place to live and why. Irvine or Santa Clarita.

Personal preference. They're pretty similar but Santa Clarita is a lot hotter in the summer and cooler in the winter

02] How much would a 2000 sq. ft. 3 bedroom home cost in these cities?

Realtor.com really is your best bet. Irvine is very, very expensive. You're probably looking at $750k or more. My friend just bought a 4 bedroom house in Irvine for $825k.

03] Would the home be newly built or over 15-20 years old?

Irvine has houses from 35-0 years old. They've never been known for big lots but the newer ones have practically zero lots. Its like living in a condo but still technically detached.

04] How much would the property taxes be?

About 1.1-1.2% of assessed value but more if you have mello roos. Newer parts of Irvine may have that. Definitely something to watch out for.

05] Have home prices fallen in the past few months due to the subprime loan correction?

Irvine prices have held of very well compared to other areas. In a correction, its the undesirable areas that fall first. This cycle is just starting.

I'm surprised to read about all of the crime down there.

the media overblows everything negative

06] Is it safe to walk the streets during the day and evening?

Yes.

07] Is it safe to pull up and stop at a traffic light with the top down or windows open at night?

Yes

08] How much is a gallon of regular gas?

About $3.10 at the moment I believe

10] How much is a gallon of milk?

About $4

11] Is the tap water drinkable?

Yes, but I don't like the taste. I drink bottled if I'm drinking it straight.

12] What salary limit would I need to survive if I had a 200,000 mortgage?

A mortgage should safely be about 3x your annual income. Beyond that and you gets progressively more house poor.

13] How much is cable TV per month?

$30-150 depending on programming.

14] How much is high speed Internet per month?

$15-45 depending on carrier and speed

15] How much is cable Internet per month?

see 14

16] How much is a basic landline phone per month?

$15-25 depending on carrier but lots of people just use cell phones

17] How much is a cell phone service per month?

Most plans start at $30-35/mo

18] When there were wild fires in Santa Clarita was the entire city ablaze or only the edge area's near the forest/trees?

Edges

21] Can you leave your car unlocked in your driveway at night?

Yes but you should lock it.

22] Can you leave your house windows open at night while you sleep?

Yes but you should lock it.

23] Can you leave you house doors unlocked while you're at home?

Yes but you should lock it.

24] Is there an area in Greater LA that you simply cannot walk down the street in the evening without being mugged / assaulted. Say, at 10 PM for example?

Some, but you have no reason to go there unless you need to buy drugs at 1am

25] Since it appears to be rather pricy living there, how do so many illegals or low income persons manage to actually live there?

Charles summed it up


It's minus 8 Celsius and snowing here right now!

There's more to a place than good weather.
1234567890
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Old 12-30-2007, 12:37 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,451,929 times
Reputation: 7586
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidcanaduh View Post
Ha!

Please ballpark a price for me in Irvine or SC for a nicely finished 2000 sq. ft. brick home?

Would the price you provide include afridge, stove, washer, dryer dishwasher, and air conditioning?

Do homes have basements there?
Brick? No, they all fell down in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. You might get lucky and find something faced with brick on one side but even that's not common. Just not the style here. Houses usually include stove and dish washer. Most people take their washer/dryer and fridge with them. AC depends on the age of the house. Santa Clarita is pretty new and HOT so most should have it. Irvine is hit or miss. I'm not up on Santa Clarita prices but you'll need to double your budget at least for that house in Irvine. Oh, and no basements.
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Old 12-30-2007, 12:45 PM
 
550 posts, read 1,234,754 times
Reputation: 125
Quote:
Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia View Post
Brick? No, they all fell down in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. You might get lucky and find something faced with brick on one side but even that's not common. Just not the style here. Houses usually include stove and dish washer. Most people take their washer/dryer and fridge with them. AC depends on the age of the house. Santa Clarita is pretty new and HOT so most should have it. Irvine is hit or miss. I'm not up on Santa Clarita prices but you'll need to double your budget at least for that house in Irvine. Oh, and no basements.
Thanks for you time. So no basements anywhere in LA?

Why is that? Because of earthquakes? Wouldn't a basement make a house more solid during a shaker?

So you figure 600k for a decent home, eh. That's f$%ked. How can people afford to live there?

Some of the things there are cheaper than here, so I'd save a few bucks, but you housing prices are steep!

Why is SC so much hotter than other spots?

Is it in a deep valley?

Is Irvine a beautiful city?

Are their building lots readliy available?

If so, and if you know, how much would a lot cost?

Guess at a price if you have to.
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Old 12-30-2007, 12:54 PM
 
550 posts, read 1,234,754 times
Reputation: 125
What is mello roos?

Are assessed home values determined by mill rates?

Are assessed home values lower than market prices for property tax purposes?

Or,

is the actual market price the assessed value?



About 1.1-1.2% of assessed value but more if you have mello roos. Newer parts of Irvine may have that. Definitely something to watch out for.
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Old 12-30-2007, 01:11 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,329 posts, read 93,761,592 times
Reputation: 17831
More comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by kidcanaduh View Post

That's f$%ked. How can people afford to live there?

Nope. It's the market. They take out mortgages.

Why is SC so much hotter than other spots?


Farther from the ocean. Or to put it another way, everyplace is hot unless it is close to the ocean. Unless it is a Santa Ana wind condition and then it can be in the high 80s (F) in Malibu in winter.


Is Irvine a beautiful city?

Something about eye of the beholder.

Are their building lots readliy available?

If so, and if you know, how much would a lot cost?

I think realtor.com has land listings too....not sure...
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